Page 479 - the-portrait-of-a-lady

he could neither assent with sincerity nor protest with hope.
Meanwhile he knew-or rather he supposed-that the affi-
anced pair were daily renewing their mutual vows. Osmond
at this moment showed himself little at Palazzo Crescentini;
but Isabel met him every day elsewhere, as she was free to
do after their engagement had been made public. She had
taken a carriage by the month, so as not to be indebted to
her aunt for the means of pursuing a course of which Mrs.
Touchett disapproved, and she drove in the morning to the
Cascine. This suburban wilderness, during the early hours,
was void of all intruders, and our young lady, joined by her
lover in its quietest part, strolled with him a while through
the grey Italian shade and listened to the nightingales.

479